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Grey Knights Captain
A Grey Knights Captain is a senior officer of the Grey Knights Space Marine Chapter. They stand amongst the Chapter's foremost warriors, and are second only in rank and battle-prowess to the Chapter's Grand Masters. They have direct command and authority over one of the Chapter's Brotherhoods, making them equivalent to a standard Space Marine Captain of Codex Astartes-compliant Chapters. In matters of strategy and planning, these Brother-Captains answer to no-one, not even to the Grand Masters themselves. The heavy burden of command over a Grey Knights Brotherhood is one of control of nearly unmatched power. A Captain of the Grey Knights is above such things as corruption by the power that they command in battle, for their souls are hardened against the promises and blandishments proffered by the daemons of Chaos. Role A Captain of the Grey Knights is a senior commander of one of the eight Brotherhoods that comprise the Chapter. Each of these mighty warriors has proven their worth time and again, both as a leader of their fellow Battle-Brothers and as a fearsome fighter in his own right. They are almost exclusively appointed from the ranks of the Chapter's Paladins. Only these most experienced of warriors can be said to display both the martial and strategic acumen that is necessary for a Captain to master. However, in the past exceptions have been made for extraordinarily valorous and capable Battle-Brothers, for the Grey Knights are nothing if not pragmatic. Each Captain has authority over one hundred of the finest warriors in the galaxy. His responsibility as commander of a Brotherhood is one undertaken with sombre dignity, for to command a Brotherhood is to command power itself, and in lesser organisations, unrestrained control of such power could, and often does, lead to the corruption of the individual in question. But a Captain is a Grey Knight, whose soul has been hardened against mortal temptations which are easily set aside. Upon the field of battle, a Brother-Captain can always be found in the very heart of the fighting, setting an example for his Battle-Brothers, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them against the worst horrors of the Warp. Though the Captain strikes at the enemy with Storm Bolter and Nemesis Force Weapon, his mind is set to directing his forces towards the greater victory. As part of his training, a Brother-Captain is taught to make psychic contact with his warriors, even amidst the clamour and chaos of battle, the better to ensure that reinforcements arrive precisely at the time they are needed, guiding his Battle-Brothers in battle to ensure ultimate victory. By his numerous deeds, each Brother-Captain will have earned honours and titles other than his formal rank. Some of these are traditional to the Chapter, others are unique, awarded by the Grand Masters for acts of valour, and each serves as a truncated history of that warrior's achievements. So it is that a long-serving Brother-Captain may be known by as many as a half-dozen or more titles. Whilst such a weighty roster of honours can lead to ponderous moments at the Grey Knights' high feasts (when each Captain's titles must be announced in full) they stand as an important example of duty and heroism to all of the Chapter's Battle-Brothers. Wargear *'Artificer Aegis Power Armour' *'Terminator Armour, Optional' *'Iron Halo' *'Wrist-Mounted Storm Bolter' *'Nemesis Force Sword' *'Frag Grenades and Krak Grenades' *'Psyk-Out Grenades' *''Liber Daemonica'' - The Liber Daemonica is an enduring symbol of the Grey Knight's devotion to his mission, and contains the cardinal tenets of lore culled from the dark knowledge caged within the Sanctum Sanctorum's walls. Every Grey Knight carries a copy of the Liber Daemonica in a Ceramite case on his breastplate. These gnarled tomes contain the Chapter's rites of battle and detail the traditional duties of every Grey Knights' rank. The books themselves are also potent psychic talismans in their own right, with pages illuminated in silver and bound to a spine carved from the thigh bone of a martyred saint. Psychic Powers *''Hammerhand'' - Focusing the raging power of their potent minds, Grey Knights can augment their already prodigious might. Even unarmed, such a warrior can crush flesh and bone in close combat -- given blade or warhammer there is little limit to what they can slay. *''Psychic Communion'' - By concentrating his psychic potential, a Grey Knights commander can make contact with the minds of his fellows, guiding them on the battlefield at the very moment they are most needed. Many a battle has been won or lost based on such timely counsel. Notable Grey Knights Captains *'Brother-Captain Neodan' - In 093.M34, Neodan, Brother-Captain of the 5th Brotherhood, slew the Butcher of Xor, an abattoir overseer possessed by a Daemon of Khorne. Only after the Daemon and its servants have been dealt with does Neodan discover that the creature had been tainting the meat-beasts of the blood factorums, and spreading them across Xor and its neighbouring worlds. With no knowledge of how far the corrupted flesh has spread, Neodan declares a final sanction against Xor, condemning millions to death in an Exterminatus action rather than risking a daemonic incursion. *'Brother-Captain Edeon' - In 708.M34, Brother-Captain Edeon lead a dozen squads of the 2nd Brotherhood of the Grey Knights into the Veiled Region seeking the Daemonafex. All communication ceased, and eventually the Council of Titan declared them lost. In 108.M36, nearly two thousand standard years after their disappearance, word reached Titan of the lost Brother-Captain Edeon and his brothers. Unbeknownst to the Chapter, Edeon had followed the Daemonafex and its thralls into an area of the Warp that owed its existence to the echoes of forgotten moments. Edeon and his Grey Knights fought at the foot of the Daemon's Fortress of Deceit, each day falling to grievous wounds only to rise again, borne up by their unwavering resolve and psychic fury. Faced with their combined might, the Daemonafex was finally cast down, though it was to cost Edeon and his brothers their lives in the material realm. On their return to realspace, their bodies begin to atrophy at an alarming rate. Before he died, the Brother-Captain only had time to send a coded astropathic signal to Titan, telling of the Brotherhood's victory. *'Brother-Captain Taremar Aurellian' - Brother-Captain Taremar Aurellian of the 3rd Brotherhood -- called Taremar the Gold for his maddeningly long list of noble deeds -- was the Warden of the 3rd Brotherhood and Master of the Flagship. He had been chosen to lead the ad hoc force of Grey Knights known as the "Ragged Brotherhood" against the Daemon Primarch Angron of the World Eaters, who had besieged the world of Armageddon with his Traitor Legion and the Forces of Chaos in 444.M41. As Grand Master Vaurmand, overall Lord of the 3rd Brotherhood, was bound to remain in the Grey Knights' fortress-monastery back on Titan, Captain Aurellian was chosen to represent the Grand Master during the First War for Armageddon campaign. The Grey Knights force was composed of 109 Grey Knights. A mere 18 remained on Titan. The rest of the Chapter were engaged in their own battles elsewhere across the galaxy. When the call came, the Grey Knights teleported into the midst of the advancing Chaos horde, surrounding the gigantic Daemon Primarch. The Grey Knights also faced the Twelve -- the Cruor Praetoria, the twelve strongest daemons of Khorne whose lives and deeds most pleased their wretched Blood God. Taking heavy losses from Angron's enormous, tainted weapon, the Black Blade, the Grey Knights inflicted their own punishment, and eventually some of their attacking squads managed to come within melee distance. After Angron mangled his squad, Brother Hyperion of Squad Castian was the only Grey Knight left standing. Trying to protect a still-surviving squad mate, in a tremendous display of faith, power, and effort, Hyperion used his psyker abilities to shatter the Primarch's blade -- while he collapsed into unconsciousness from the effort. Brother-Captain Aurellian of the 3rd Brotherhood, Master of the Grey Knights warship Ruler of the Black Skies and a Knight of Titan, then boldly confronted the bladeless Daemon Prince of Khorne and managed to banish him back to the Warp for one hundred Terran years, though at the cost of his own life. *'Brother-Captain Ramstorn Fane' - In 601.M41, Brother-Captain Ramstron Fane tracked the fabled Bloodwulf to the world of Crytor, the Khornate Daemon leaving a trail of burning worlds across the sector. In the ghost-filled ruins of the dead planet, Fane and his Battle-Brothers cornered the Daemon before a megalithic tomb of black glass. As the Bloodwulf and his Flesh Hounds turn to face the Space Marines, the seals on the tomb hissed open and metallic xenos warriors marched forth. A bitter three-way combat erupted, with the Grey Knights fighting both the newly-arrived Necrons and the Daemons of the Blood God. Fane finally managed to land the killing blow against the Bloodwulf as the Daemon tried to tear apart the undying robotic warriors' Necron Lord. As the Daemon collapsed in on itself in a cloud of smoke and blood, the Brother-Captain readied himself for attack from the Necrons, only to find their lord lowering his weapon in what appeared to be an archaic gesture of parley. Deciding not to risk his remaining brothers against the unknown and potent xenos, Fane warily signaled for them to withdraw, satisfied that their true quarry is no more. *'Brother-Captain Pelenas' - In 800.M41, a dire vision from the Prognosticars resulted in a Grey Knights strike force being dispatched to a point in space where no worlds were known to exist. On arrival, the strike force encountered the massive, bio-acid scorched hulk of Craftworld Malan'tai. Though its inhabitants have all but been destroyed by Tyranids, Malan'tai was not so empty as it first appeared. The ancient Keeper of Secrets N'kari and his daemonic kind stalked the fallen halls, growing bloated with power on Eldar Spirit Stones. To fight such a foe would ordinarily be beyond even the Grey Knights, but the Prognosticars dictated more than the location of this new threat, they also bade Brother-Captain Pelenas to take as many Purifiers as he could muster. As the Grey Knights launched their assault on despoiled Malan'tai, the Purifiers lead the charge, a bow wave of cleansing azure flame preceding their advance. The fire roared through the desolate halls like a hungry spirit, crackling and growing as it consumed the Daemons in its path, scattering those hellspawn that survived and leaving them ripe prey for the advancing Grey Knights. N'kari was finally cornered in the dead Craftworld's shattered Dome of Crystal Seers. The Daemon fought with fury -– in a matter of moments his spear claimsed the lives of a dozen Purifiers and struck down Pelenas. Yet, before the Daemon could strike the killing blow on the fallen Brother-Captain, Justicar Thawn threw himself into the Daemon’s path and was laid low in his Captain's place. With N'kari's weapon momentarily trapped in the prison of Thawn's flesh, the surviving Purifiers were able to complete the ritual of Twelve Bloody Swords, which drained N'kari of his stolen psychic power and leaft him vulnerable to Pelenas' deathblow. *'Brother-Captain Aldar the Bold' - A formidable warrior and long-serving Captain of the Grey Knights, none have accrued as many honours and titles as Aldar the Bold, whose traditional title of "Keeper of the Light" has been supplemented by no less than a score of other honorifics, of which "Slayer of the Bloodbeast" can be considered the least, and "Liberator of the Solipsis Sector" is by far the most prestigious. *'Brother-Captain Leodegarius' - Seeking to return home to Ultramar after the completion of a Death Oath in the Eye of Terror, the Omphalos Daemonium (a daemonic train that traverses the Warp to wherever its daemon master wills it) dumped Ultramarines Captain Uriel Ventris and his Sergeant, Pasanius Lysane, on the world of Salinas. While upon Salinas, the stranded Ultramarines sent an astropathic message to the Ultramarines' fortress-monastery on the world of Macragge. A Grey Knights outpost intercepted the message, and learned of Uriel's and Pasanius' foray into the Eye of Terror. Brother-Captain Leodegarius and a squad of Grey Knights were immediately despatched to test their faith and flesh. While on Salinas, and after these tests, the Grey Knights aided Uriel and the Salinites in defeating the "Unfleshed" mutants unleashed by the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion and the vengeful spirits of wrongly-murdered Salinites. *'Brother-Captain Caddon Varn' - In 913.M41, the Invaders Space Marine Chapter and their Astra Militarum allies walked into a trap laid by the Thousand Sons Chaos Sorcerer Ahriman in the Librarium of Jollana, and were beset on all sides by Daemons. Brother-Captain Caddon Varn lead a strike force to reclaim the Librarium, and when the Grey Knights arrived only a handful of Invaders still survived in the ruins of the Librarium. The arrival of Brother-Captain Varn heralded a change in the tide of the battle and together the Invaders and Grey Knights cleansed the world of all daemonic taint. ]] * Brother-Captain Arvann Stern - Among the Grand Masters and Brother-Captains of the Grey Knights there are few that would dispute that Arvann Stern exemplifies everything the Chapter represents. When Kaldor Draigo named Stern his successor as Brother-Captain of the 3rd Brotherhood, it was widely believed that Stern, as Draigo's protégé, would one day rise to the rank of Grand Master himself. Unfortunately for the Grey Knights, this was not to be Stern’s fate, the machinations of the Ruinous Powers taking a hand in his destiny when he led the assault upon the Cult of the Red Talon on the world of Antraxes and the banishment of its Daemonic master, the Lord of Change M'kachen, back to the Warp for one hundred Terran years and a solar day. When the vengeful daemon finally returned to realspace, he vowed to slay Captain Stern no matter the cost. The curse of M'kachen follows Stern like a shadow. Since that fateful day in the spire of the Red Talon, Stern has never been free of the Lord of Change's meddling, and the warrior now takes nothing for granted. What was once seen as the hand of fate, coincidence or happenstance must now be carefully considered and meticulously examined for the daemonic fingerprints of M'kachen. Stern and his Battle-Brothers have come to accept that strange things happen in his presence. These events are caused by invisible Daemons of M'kachen at work; tiny, craven things in thrall to the Lord of Change that cannot manifest fully in the real world. Instead they make their mischiefs, removing primers from bolt rounds, breaking Purity Seals or pulling the pins out of grenades. These same Daemons aid Stern’s enemies, subtly altering the paths of bullets, shrapnel or blades. M'kachen appears on the battlefield to face Stern every chance he gets, and if unable to come personally, sends one of his most powerful daemonic servants to attempt the deed for him. Stern is approximately 400 standard years old and has battled M'kachen three times so far. Each time, the Brother-Captain has proven his ability to withstand the power of the Greater Daemon and he has defeated the foul creature and its minions at every turn. Sources *''Codex: Grey Knights'' (7th Edition), pp. 8, 27, 29-40, 54-57, 71, 79-82, 85, 89, 91-92, 95, 97-99, 128-134 *''Codex: Grey Knights'' (5th Edition), pp. 23, 41 *''Codex: Daemonhunters'' (3rd Edition), pg. 59 *''The Emperor's Gift'' (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden *''The Killing Ground'' (Novel) by Graham McNeill es:Hermano-Capitán (Caballeros Grises) Category:G Category:Grey Knights Category:Imperium Category:Inquisition Category:Ordo Malleus Category:Space Marines